Run by a passionate mother-daughter team, Storytellers, Inc. has been serving book-lovers and visitors to the Lancashire seaside town of Lytham St Annes since 2010.

Despite having no previous book or retail experience before opening, this lovely shop has won a number of top awards, from Katie winning Young Bookseller of the Year in 2012, to being named Regional Independent Bookshop of the Year (North) in 2013, to being short-listed for Children’s Bookseller of the Year in 2016.

Alongside being mindful of the reading needs of holiday visitors, they’re also very community-minded, hosting a number of book clubs, and working with local schools to supply and recommend books, and facilitate author visits. If that wasn’t enough, Katie also writes for children.

Read on to find out more about this wonderful shop, and for a host of great reading recommendations, too.

Describe your shop in three words.

By the sea!

When was your bookshop born? Tell us about your journey and the changes you’ve seen (and made) along the way.

We opened very enthusiastically in December 2010, and our business has changed quite a bit in that time. From a children’s specialist, focussed on school events and in-store activities for children, we expanded into a general bookshop in 2015. 

Since then we’ve focussed more on our adult offering, with a well-supported fiction book club and author events. Over the years we’ve learned to be a bit more restrained; we’ve simplified our message – we’re a bookshop. We sell books!

What’s important in a great bookshop?

In a tourist town like ours you need to be two different things; for holiday visitors you need to showcase a bright, welcoming and well-stocked shop with interesting, unusual things that people might want to take home that day. 

For your regular, local customers it’s more about the bond with the bookseller, I think. Being reliable, friendly and personable – these are the things that are going to create loyalty. 

What sets you apart and makes you special? 

I think perhaps because we’re just a two-person team (mother and daughter) it means regular customers can get a really personal service from us. Often we know what they’ve purchased before, or the family member they’re shopping for. 

In a small town like St. Annes it’s easy to keep track of your customers, so I think lots of our customers feel like friends. We’re also really proud of our big book club, which has been running for seven years now – our members are really passionate about how much they enjoy it, which is great to hear.

What’s your all-time favourite…

- picture book recommendation?

Chris Haughton’s Oh No, George is about as perfect as a picture book can be, I think!

- children’s fiction recommendation?

All of these answers would be different on any day you ask me so today I’m going to say Claude by Alex T. Smith because I love to see children’s faces light up when they see that small little book – so stylish AND silly.

- YA recommendation? 

Anything by Susin Nielsen – I love to help people discover her writing!

Which books have you been recommending recently? 

The Princess Minna books by Kirsty Applebaum and Sahar Haghgoo, they’re so bright and colourful and even have STICKERS in the back!

Also, if I’m allowed a cheeky plug – we’ve been doing really well with my own teen novel Three Girls, which came out this month. The cover is amazing so it’s really jumping out from the shelves (the words inside are quite good too!).

What’s your favourite area of your bookshop?

Picture books are still my favourite thing to order, to unpack and to purchase! There’s just so much variety to enjoy.

What are you most proud of? 

That we’re still here! Eleven and a half years on. We had no clue about owning a business or the book industry when we opened, so that’s something. And more recently, and personally, I feel proud that we’ve learned to step back a bit – not work every hour, not do every event. 

The point of us working for ourselves was to have happier lives, and we’re prioritising that a bit more these days. I think that’s something to be proud of. 

Who would you invite to your dream literary party? 

Oh gosh, I don’t know – should you really meet your literary heroes? And should they see you eat loads of cakes? I’m not sure. How about I just invite loads of people who love books and want to talk of nothing else?  Now that does sound like a dream party…

Tell us a secret about books

They’re bigger on the inside than they are from the outside.

Discover more about Storytellers, Inc:

Website: storytellersinc.co.uk

Online shop: uk.bookshop.org/shop/storytellersinc

Twitter: @storytellersinc

Facebook: Storytellers, Inc.

Instagram: @storytellers.inc

Discover more awesome independent bookshops in our regular Bookshop of the Month series.